Automatic bottle feeder and unloader



C. A. MILLER AUTOMATIC BOTTLE FEEDER AND UNLOADER March 2 1926.

Filed Feb. 25, 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z O M 0 0 M 8 Gharled A-Jldz' 3&3? f V' Greet M01 4 March 2 1926. 1,575,175

C. A. MILLER AUTOMATIC BOTTLE FEEDER AND UNLOADER Filed Feb. 23. 1924 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 2 vwemtoz Charles Ql/Miller amazon/1 0 Paulina 2, 1926.

.. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFEE.

CHARLES ALVIN KILLER, OI BAI NBBIDGE, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOB T MILLER MANU- I'AC'IUBING COMPANY, A COBPORATION OI' GEORGIA.

' nurom'rrc no'rrnn rnnimn AND UHLOADEB.

Application filed February 2a, was. smii no. 894,600.

1 To all whom. it mam.-

. being provided for ejectin Be it known that I, CHARLES A. Mnmm, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bainbridge, in the county of Decatur-and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Bottle Feeders and Unloaders;--and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to mechanism for transferring bottles from a conveyor such as an endless belt to a circular bottle-holding wheel on which the bottles are supported while being filled and capped, means also the filled bottles from the wheel onto t e bottle carrier or endless conveyor.

The various features of the invention will appear from the detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying two (2) sheets of drawings forming part of the specification and wi 1 be particularly defined in the appended claims.

Referring tothe drawin s, Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating the application of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the operating mechanism, parts being removed to more clearly disclose the operating parts; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bottle shifting lever.

in the drawings numeral 1 indicates the frame of a machine which supports a turn table or bottle-holder 2 aiiixed to a vertical shaft 3 suitably supported in the frame of the machine. Aflixed on the shaft 3 is a wheel 4 having spaced notches 5 in its periphery. Disposed at one side of the wheel 4: is a pair of pawls 6 and 7 connected by a spring 8 which serves to hold said pawls within a pair of notches 5 to lock the shaft 3 and bottle holder 2 against rotation in either direction for certain periods as will more fully appear hereinafter.

Intermittent or periodic movement is imparted to the turntable 2 by means of mechanism now to be described. At one end of the frame l is a shaft 9 on which is mounted a cam 10 which is adapted to oscillate a kee the head 12 at one extremity of the-rod,

sai rod being provided with a head 15 which prevents the head 12 from leaving said rod.

Mounted loose on the shaft 3 is an elbow lever 16, one arm 17 thereof being connected to the rod 13 by means of a link or extension 18. A pawl 19 is ivoted to the free end of the arm 17 and is pressed against the periphery of the wheel 4 by means of a spring 20. It will now be understood that rotationof the cam 10 will impart oscillatory movement to the. lever 11, the latter being held against the cam by means of a sprin 21. The spring 14 on the rod 13 1S su ciently stiff to normally hold the head 12 against the head 15 on the extremity of the rod 13. The rod 13 will therefore be given a reciprocatory motion by the lever 11 and inasmuch as the elbow lever 16 is connected to the said rod 13, said lever will receive a rockin motion. It may be mentioned at this point that the purpose of providing the spring 14 on the rod 13 is to allow the head 12 to which the lever 11 is connected to move down on the rod 13' Without moving the latter in case of some obstruction interfering with the proper rotation of the bottle-holder wheel 2.

The elbow lever 16 is provided with an arm having an adjustable head 22 which is adapted to contact with the pawl! at certain intervals to disengage said pawl from its position in a notch in the wheel a to permit the wheel and consequently the bottleholding wheel 2 to be rotated, the rotation being in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in the drawings. In Fig. 1 the pawl 7 is shown as disengaged from the arm head 22, the other pawl 6 remaining in position to prevent backward rotation of the wheel i. The lever 16 of which the head 22 is a part is shown in Fig. 1 at the extreme limit of its movement in a clockwise direction. The pawl 19 at the end of the arm 17 of said lever 16 has shifted up one notch on the wheel 4 and is therefore in position to give the wheel 41 a rotary movement as the arm 11 moves the rod 13 forwardly to impart a counter-clockwise rotation to the said elbow lever 16. The pawl 7 is held out of contact with the periphery of the wheel 4 long enough to permit the wheel to be moved out of position for the engagement of the pawl 7 in the immediately adjacent notch 5 therein. Rotary motion of the wheel 4 continues until the pawl 7 drops into the next notch 5 whereupon the wheel 4 is locked in position against further rotation.

The above-described mechanism forms no part of the present invention except in so far as it forms a setting or environment for my invention now to be described.

Arranged alongside the turntable 2 is an endless conveyor chain '25 suitably supported in a frame 26. Mounted on a shaft 27 between the turntable 2 and conveyor 25 is a lever 28 which is connected by means of a link 29 to the arm 17 of the elbow lever 16 which is pivoted on the shaft 3, there being preferably a pin and slot connection 40 between said link 29 and lever 28 permit-tin the throw of the lever to be varied shoul the same be found necessary The arm 30 of the lever 28 is adapted to swing over the endless conveyor 25 for a purpose to be presently described and the arm 31 of said lever is adapted to swing beneath the turntable 2 above a stationary plate 32 on Which the bottles B are adapted to rest while being carried around by the turntable 2.

The turntable or rotary head 2 is provided with a series of pockets 33 which open outwardly to permit the entry of bottles thereinto. Surrounding the rotary head or turntable 2 is a guide 34 which serves to hold the bottles in position in their pockets in the rotary head.

Overlying the endless belt 25 is a plate 35 which may be considered as defining at one end a passage for the entry of bottles into the rotary head 2 and at the other end as defining a passageway out of said head. How-- ever, the lever 28 is the means which causes the bottles on the endless belt to he carried or shifted from the endless belt into the wheel and out of the wheel. The arm 30 of the lever 28 is provided with an arcuate upstanding flange 36 against which the oncoming bottle on the conveyor 25 will engage and thus be prevented from further transportation by said carrier.

Referring to Fig. 2, the lever 28 is shown in position to shift a bottle from the endless carrier 25 into the adjacent pocket in the rotary head 2, Fig. 1 showing the position of the lever at the inward limit of its movement after having carried a bottle into said pocket.

Referring again to Fig. 2, the arm 31 of the lever 28 is shown as underlying the head 2 (omitted from this figure), the arrangement being such that rotary head 2 is turned in a counter-clockwise direction. The bottle in the pocket adjacent said arm 31 will wipe against the arm 31 and gradually be forced out of said pocket as said lever 28 is turned in a counter-clockwise direction, the

bottle being pushed by said arm 31 onto the endless belt 25 and carried away.

The operation of the machine is briefly as follows:

The cam 10 on the shaft 9 rotates continuously, the elbow lever 16 which is loose on the shaft 3 being given a rocking motion by means of the connecting mechanism and the lever 11 which is rocked by the cam 10. \Vhen the arm 17 of the lever 16 is at the limit of its movement in a counter-clockwise direction, the bottle-shifting lever 28 has been turned in a clockwise direction sufficiently far to position the arm 30 of the lever 28 over the endless conveyor 25. The pawls 6 and 7 are now in position in the notches 5 of the Wheel 4 to hold the head 2 against turning movement. As the elbow lever 16 is rotated in a clockwise direction due to the spring 21 pulling the lever 11 against the low spot or portion on the cam 10, the lever 28 is swung in a counter-clockwise direction and the arm 31 thereof forces a bottle out of the pocket in the rotating head 2 and at the same time shifts the bottle from the endless conveyor 25 into a pocket immediately in front of the pocket from which a bottle is being discharged. The completed operation is shown in Fig. 1. After the bottle has been entered into the pocket in the head 2 as said, further continued clockwise rotation of the elbow lever 16 causes the head 22 thereof to engage the pawl 7 to disengage the same from I the notch in the wheel 4 at which time the cam has rotated sufliciently far to cause the said elbow 16 to be oscillated in a counter-clockwise direction, and the pawl 19 at end of the arm 17 of said lever 16 has entered a notch in the wheel 4 thus causing the head to be given a partial revolution as will now be readily understood.

It may be stated that the head 2 is held stationary to permit the operation of filling and capping the bottles, advantage being taken of this requirement to enter an empty bottle into the head and to discharge a filled bottle therefrom by means of the lever 28.

l/Vhat I claim is:

1. The combination with a rotary bottle holder, of a bottle carrier movable tangentially with respect to said holder, means for imparting intermittent rotary movement to said holder, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends adjacent said holder and carrier, means for oscillating said lever by said first-named means, said lever adapted to be swung across the path of said carrier'to direct a bottle onto said holder and to remove a bottle from the latter.

2; The combination with a periodically rotatable bottle holder having pockets arranged therearound and opening outwardly, of a continuously movable bottle carrier disposed alongside said holder, passa es for therein onto said carrier, said lever having 10 bottles to and from the carrier and older, an upstanding areuate flange on that end a lever pivoted intermediate its ends bewhich directs the bottles into the holder, tween said passages, means for imparting said flange serving as an abutment against 5 periodic swingin movement to said lever which the bottles on the carrier come to rest while the said older is stationary, said While the carrier is in motion. 15 lever moving a bottle from the carrier into a In testimony whereof I ailix my signature. pocket on the holder and removing a bottle from the holder from an adjacent'pocket CHARLES ALVIN MILLER. 

